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Granite Falls, NC: yagi or something different?

post #1 of 17
2/27/12 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
i have a large yagi antenna, i think a 72" on the peak of my house around 30 feet from ground level, i also live on a slight hill over looking the highway corridor that pretty much points to the two groups of hdtv transmitters (one group is only about 35 miles away, the other group is 54 miles)

now right now i'm getting the 35mile group perfect, no issues, but the 54mile group i can't seem to keep a steady signal (now i have a cheap pre-amp from radio shack and no motor on the antenna to turn it)

i haven't messed with it much other than looking at the map and guessing where i should point it, but i also haven't thought much on which antenna picks up which frequencies best.

so would it be best to get another/better preamp and just try to aim my antenna better? or would it be good to get a db4/db8 and replace the antenna?

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post #2 of 17
2/27/12 at 12:09pm
You have channels in all 3 bands, so you still need a conventional all-channel antenna, not something like a db4 or db8. I would get a low noise high input preamp like a Winegard hdp269 and possibly add a rotor, if tweaking your aim toward the 53 mile stations with a compass doesn't help, first. Your existing cheapie preamp may be overloading from youe closer, much stronger signals.

It's impossible to tell if your existing antenna might be suitable, without brand or model numbers or photos.
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post #3 of 17
2/28/12 at 6:10pm
Thread Starter 
alright, sorry about not including the antenna i'm using.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=3739597

that should be nearly the same thing i have on my house. mine might be a little longer, but thats close.

is the 8 bay (or 4 bay even) better at the channels i'm trying to get?
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post #4 of 17
2/28/12 at 8:07pm
Your existing antenna is UHF-only. Four and eight bay antennas typically are only good for UHF and only marginally good for VHF-HI. You need an antenna that will receive all 3 TV bands well; VHF-LO, VHF-HI and UHF. Something like:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=HD-7082P
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=HD8200U

And you need a preamp and rotor.
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post #5 of 17
2/29/12 at 4:27am
Before you invest in an all channel VHF/UHF antenna, is WCYB (NBC) on RF 5 important to you? That's out of the Johnson City, TN market, along with the stations in the 308° - 320° directions. If not, then you need a VHF-HI/UHF like the Antennacraft HBU44 or 55, or Winegard HD7697 or 7698. That's only if you want WSPA (CBS) out of the Greenville, SC market at 229° on RF 7, WTVI (PBS) from the Charlotte, NC market at 130° on RF 11 (they have a translator close to you on RF 14, but has a sharp null toward you), or WJHL on RF 11 out of the Johnson City, TN market at 318°. All your locals in green are UHF only. There are just 4 VHF's in your TV Fool chart, & that's something you have to determine, if they're that important (especially WCYB on RF 5, as that requires a regular element antenna optimized for VHF-Lo).
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post #6 of 17
2/29/12 at 7:24am
The OP's original question was about difficulty in receiving channels in the 50+ mileage range. His "green" channels were fine. That's why I suggested the all-channel antenna approach.

Personally, I *hate* VHF and lowband in particular.
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post #7 of 17
2/29/12 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 
well the only two i'm worried about getting thats outside the green are the Fox station and the ABC station coming out of charlotte...

lets see they are real channel 27 and 34. the channels in the green all show up perfect...

i just get confused on gain and if the db4 would be better than a yagi at grabbing OTA from two "kinda close" sources.
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post #8 of 17
2/29/12 at 10:56am
Then you should stick with a UHF antenna. The tighter the aim (beamwidth) of the antenna the higher the gain.

Your existing antenna has higher gain than a 4bay and narrower beamwidth. A 4bay would have a wider beamwidth and less gain, but still probably enough gain in your case, and might work well, unless multipath is a problem in your area.

But before spending money on another antenna, I would try tweaking the aim of your existing antenna. Using a compass, aim it 140° compass direction. That should get your problem channels. If it affects the others, gradually move it a few degrees to see if you can find a sweet spot between the near and far channels.
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post #9 of 17
2/29/12 at 12:01pm
Both WSOC and WCCB have nearby translators within 8.4 miles from your location, on RF42 and RF20. So, you should have no problem with ABC and Fox. Just add a preamp and a rotor. Either a Winegard or Channel Master preamp would be a good choice. 269 or 7778. And with a rotor, you should be able to get RF34 and 27 as well. But if you want to try for WSPA-7 and WLOS-13, you would probably need a HiVHF/UHF combo antenna such as Antennacraft HBU55 or Winegard 7696/7.And with that type of antenna, RF11 from Tenn. may be a possibility as well. But you should be good for all the main Charlotte signals, although an 8-bay such as CM4228 may require slightly less rotation to find a sweet spot.
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post #10 of 17
2/29/12 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 
sounds good arxaw, will try that degree, hadn't even though about a compass...*face palm*

if not then i think i'll build a 4 bay with the plans from http://m4antenna.eastmasonvilleweather.com/index.html

then test it out, if i need to i'll go to an 8bay design...

would really not want to deal with a rotor, as its much nicer just having access to all channels without having to turn the antenna at all. its happened once before, so now its just getting it dialed in
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post #11 of 17
3/12/12 at 6:46am
Thread Starter 
alright, i pulled up a compass and haven't made it on the roof yet...should as soon as i get off work.

but just from eyeballing it, i'm way off 140*, so i'll adjust it and see how my signal comes in.

thanks
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post #12 of 17
3/12/12 at 9:51am
If you're way off-axis on the aim, that is probably most of your problem. If 140° still has problems, gradually try moving more directly toward the compass direction of the problem channel(s). Then, recheck your other channels to make sure it did not affect them.
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post #13 of 17
3/12/12 at 4:06pm
I admit I'm surprised that you're not receiving ABC from W42DR-D (6-1) or FOX from W20DD-D (18-4). Both signals should be pretty strong at your location.

- Trip
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post #14 of 17
3/12/12 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
well they are in a different direction than what i'm pointed, i have a yagi so its very directional...


i know i can pickup the charlotte stations becuase i've done it before, but i've always eyeballed the aim...this time i'm way off what i thought i was, so i'll try 140*...didn't get a chance tonight due to family in the hospital. probably get up there wed now..

if this doesn't fix the issue, i'll probably build a 4 bay antenna and try it out, but i think i can make my setup work

thanks for the replys and help
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post #15 of 17
3/16/12 at 5:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by arxaw View Post

If you're way off-axis on the aim, that is probably most of your problem. If 140° still has problems, gradually try moving more directly toward the compass direction of the problem channel(s). Then, recheck your other channels to make sure it did not affect them.

Thanks arxaw! i was way off! i got up to change the antenna and checked its direction now...it was at 117*, i lined it up to 140* and now all my channels come in 5 bars!

Freaking sweet!

now i might have to buy a new tuner...i have two pci atsc tuners installed and one gets perfect signal and the other gets perfect on all channels except on 17 (pbs out of linville) and CBS is at 4 bars out of 6...but so far i haven't noticed any pixelation out of either tuner and all channels work like they should.

so thanks a lot for your help! it worked wonders for my setup
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post #16 of 17
3/16/12 at 6:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Insane HTPC View Post

...now i might have to buy a new tuner...i have two pci atsc tuners installed and one gets perfect signal and the other gets perfect on all channels except on 17 (pbs out of linville) and CBS is at 4 bars out of 6...but so far i haven't noticed any pixelation out of either tuner and all channels work like they should.

so thanks a lot for your help! it worked wonders for my setup

Glad the re-aim fixed your problems.

Re the channels with lower signal; as long as you consistently have enough signal to maintain a solid lock without pixelization, that's all you need. Higher signal strength above that won't improve the picture quality. Also, signal strength meters in DTV tuners vary widely from brand to brand, and exist mainly for tweaking your antenna aim. One tuner may show 100% signal strength (or full "bars"), while another one may show less than that.
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post #17 of 17
3/16/12 at 6:03pm
Thread Starter 
sounds good, both tuners seem to have no issues now, thanks again for your help. made a world of difference paying attention to the degree
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